Digimon Atlas
by AburameAustin
Summary: A force is taking over the digital world. This force will stop at nothing until all is conquered under his rule. The only one who can stop him are the digidestined. Sucked into this unknown world, this group of teens must survive with their partners to get back home and save not only the digital world, but their world as well.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Let's Get Digital**

The school bell rang at 2:15 in the afternoon. It was a Friday, so students flocked to the hallways to retrieve their things and head home for the weekend. Among the students were two guys, Austin and Justice. The two were juniors at Crete High School. Austin was a heavy-set white guy with short brown hair while Justice was a black guy with a skinny build with a hi-top fade. They were leaving their English class towards the lockers.

"Man, that test was tough," said Justice in a defeated voice. "I'm pretty sure I failed."

"Don't be like that," said Austin. "I'm sure you did fine." He was pretty confident in his performance.

"It's easy for you to say that, you're one of the smartest guys in that class."

Austin took the comment with pride. "Well I do have a knack for that stuff." Justice just rolled his eyes. "Whatever, whatever I get on that test is what I get."

Their lockers were close to each other, so they were headed in the same direction. After grabbing their bags and personal belongings, the two set out for home. As they walked outside, Justice asked Austin a question.

"Hey Austin, are you doing anything today?"

Austin turned to him. "No, my family is going to be out today, so I got the house to myself. Did you want to come over or something?"

"Yeah actually," said Justice. "I don't feel like going home, don't want to deal with family and all that jazz."

"I don't mind," said Austin enthusiastically. "We can chill and play games, watch a movie or something."

"Thanks man. I need to do something to get my mind off school."

Austin and Justice continued to chat on the way to Austin's house. Justice had a rough day, having nearly every class give an exam. He was mentally drained and just wanted to sit down and relax. Austin had a fairly easy day. He had a lot of easy assignments to do in class and ended up with lots of free time. Justice kept telling him how easy he had it, but Austin kept saying he had it hard too. The conversation was interrupted when a message appeared on his phone.

"What the hell is this," asked Austin as he looked at his phone. He opened the message and it was in some language he had never seen. He then looked to Justice who was looking at him with curiosity. "Did you get a weird message too, Justice?"

Justice then gazed at his phone, trying to make out the weird text he was seeing, but to no avail. "No, I put my phone on airplane mode man. Don't want to be bothered by my family. It's probably spam my boy."

"I guess you're right," said Austin. This is probably some kind of spam anyway." Austin deleted the message from his phone and the two continued on their way.

Austin lived around twenty minutes away from the school, so it took them a little bit to get there. Along the way, they stopped at the gas station to pick up some drinks. It was going to be a great time, so they needed the greatest liquid refreshments, RC and Mountain Dew. And they couldn't forget the Funyuns and Flamin' Hot Cheetos. As they left the store, Austin's phone buzzed again. Austin took it out and looked at his friend again.

"Same message I presume?" asked Justice, who raised an eyebrow at him

"Yep. And it's getting deleted again" replied Austin.

"Heh! You know what that means, you got some stalker tryna get your ass."

Austin huffed at the response and deleted the message and blocked the number this time. They continued down the street until they came to the front door of Austin's house. Austin unlocked the door and the two were bombarded by Austin's two dogs, CC and Venus. The two showed them love before going upstairs to Austin's room. Throwing their bags and snacks on his bed, the two set up to play some video games.

"What are we starting with" asked Austin anxiously looking through his games.

"How about Devil May Cry 4," suggested Justice.

"I'm down for that. Are we doing the Vergil story?"

"You know it. Vergil is the best."

"I think Dante is cooler, but you're entitled to your opinion." Austin turned on his PS4 as he handed Justice the controller. "You can start my friend since you're my guest."

Justice accepted the controller. "Thanks, now let me show you why Vergil is the best."

The duo started up the Vergil story on Legendary Dark Knight difficulty. This meant that more enemies would spawn than normal, meaning more stylish combos. Basically, they were getting motivated. Justice played until he finally died in the fourth mission, then Austin took over until he died. They ended up beating the story quicker than they thought they would.

"Wow, we really sped through that one," said Justice surprised.

Austin just shrugged. "I guess we need to pick another game. Any ideas?"

Justice looked at the various games Austin had. He then looked at Austin's bed and saw his skateboard next to it. Justice then realized what they should play.

"Let's pop in a Tony Hawk game."

Austin liked the idea and quickly grabbed Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 from his stack of PS1 games. He popped it in the console and the two were once again rising and grinding on that skater status. Austin was pulling off sick tricks and everything, while Justice was fucking around with Spiderman. The two were enjoying their time as the soundtrack played some of the best music from the era, including Rage Against the Machine and Anthrax. As they were getting really into the game, Austin's phones buzzed once more.

"I swear, if it's that stupid message again, I'm gonna punch something," said Austin, who was getting more agitated by it.

"HA! Ah man dude, someone must really want to take your ass out on date and get busy with you," Justice said as he started to air thrust, making fun of Austin.

After that, Justice's phone started to vibrate as well. He looked at his phone in surprise since it's impossible for his phone to receive any messages since it's on airplane mode. He picked up his phone and opened the screen, only for it to reveal the same message as well.

"The hell is this?" he asked, puzzled.

"Not so funny now is it?"

"Shut your ass up! What does yours say?"

Austin gave a snide look at his friend and looked at the new message. "Wait, hold up. This time it's in English."

The two skimmed through the message and both had the most confused and bamboozled looks on their faces. Austin turned to Justice who shook his head signaling he had no idea what to think.

_I apologize for the earlier messages not being in your language. I did not realize that you could not understand out language. Now that I got that out of the way, I am telling you that you are destined for something great. You are one of the chosen few that will save the world from a great evil. Together with allies and friends, you will begin a great journey. To survive you must remain trusting of your allies and persevere through the tough times ahead of you. I hope that I will meet you soon, but for now be careful of your surroundings. You never know who an enemy will be._

"Man, this some gay ass shit," said Justice, who quickly deleted the message, "How the hell can somebody message me while my shit's on airplane mode. That's impossible."

"I have no fucking clue. I guess this is some kind of joke, but I have this weird feeling that it isn't."

"Yeah, someone's after our virginities."

Suddenly, their phones began to glow with a bright white light. The entire room was suddenly engulfed in the light. Austin and Justice were looking around frantically like lost puppies.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING!" Austin was freaking out.

"I don't know, but suddenly I'm not feeling so good." Justice eyes were beginning to feel heavy to keep open. His legs were starting to give out and he collapsed onto the floor after he said that.

"Justice, are you okay?" Austin tried to walk over to his friend, but he also passed out.

In a dark room, a figure watched a large monitor. He watched with an intense look as a bright white flash appeared and disappeared in an instant. As the light disappeared, two figures were left on the ground. The dark figure in the room stood up quickly. He seemed to be aggravated at the site of these two figures. He pushed a button and a video screen appeared on his monitor. There was no image, only audio.

"Yes, my liege, how may I serve you?" The voice from the screen was low and deep.

"It would appear we'll be having company soon. You are ordered to make contact with them as soon as you can. I am… rather curious about these humans to say the least." The dark figure said, raising his hand on his chin in an intrigued manner.

"Yes master. I'll make contact with them right away."

The screen disappeared, and the dark figure sat back down in his chair. He put his hands together, thinking about his new arrivals

"Let's see they have what it takes to provide some amusement to me."

The sound of water running down a river hitting large rocks began to wake up Austin and Justice. The two sat up and looked around. They were still a little dazed, but they knew they weren't at Austin's house anymore. Justice stood up and looked towards the river. He walked over to splash water on himself as Austin rubbed his eyes to try and gather his thoughts.

"What the hell happened," asked Austin as he stood up, still off balance from the flash of white light.

"I have no idea," said Justice as he kneeled down to splash water on himself. "This place looks like nothing we have back in town. We must have been taken out to some kind of forest preserve."

"I guess, but I'm not familiar with any forest preserve in Crete with a large river." Austin reached for his phone. "I'm going to try and call for help."

Austin tried to make a call, but it was hopeless.

"Fuck, no bars. What about you Justice?"

Justice looked at his phone and shook his head no. He walked back towards Austin. As he got closer, he stepped on something that made him lose his balance and fall over. He looked to see what it was and was confused when he saw a skateboard.

"Why is there a random skateboard on this river bank?"

Austin helped Justice up then took a good look at the board. He was shocked when he realized it was his.

"That's my skateboard, but how did it get here?" Austin went over and picked it up. He then looked back to Justice and noticed something else.

"Hey Justice, when did you change into those clothes?"

Justice looked at him with a dumbfounded look. "What are you talking about? You're the one that changed."

Austin looked at himself and realized he was dressed like a Tony Hawk Pro Skater character. Justice was now wearing a scarf and some black clothes Austin had never seen before.

"Something tells me that we were thrown into SAO", said Justice, who was looking at his clothes. "But these clothes do look kind of Gucci." He turned to Austin. "But my question is since when have you been a skater?" Justice was more interested in how someone as fat as Austin was a skater.

"I've actually been skating for some time now. It's a secret hobby not many know about. But that's not important. What really is though is how are we going to get home from wherever we are. We can't make a phone call, and no one knows that we're here. What if we can never go home? What if we die out here?" Austin was freaking out and started to hyperventilate.

Justice grabbed him and started to shake him.

"Dude don't bitch out on me." He raised his voice. "Nobody likes a bitch, alright?"

Austin started to calm down, but he was still anxious. The two looked around and noticed that the river flowed into what looked like a cave. They walked over to the opening and found that it was actually large enough for them to walk alongside the river.

"I say we go in there," said Justice with curiosity. "Heck, I've never been inside a cave before." Justice started to take steps into the cave, only to turn back to Austin who was still standing at the entrance, giving him a worried look.

"I don't know, it looks kind of dangerous in there." Austin was about to say something else when Justice signaled him to shut up.

He then pointed to something that was standing on a hill in the distance. It had the appearance of a dinosaur. The two looked to each other and then to the thing. It looked in their direction but didn't notice them. It started to walk away, but Austin and Justice were already going deep inside the cave. Austin and Justice went a little bit pale at what they just saw.

"Did we go back in time, because that looked like a goddamn dinosaur," said Austin as he tried to wrap his head around this.

"I'm just glad it didn't see us. We could have been in serious trouble if it noticed us." Justice shined his phone light down the cave. "All the more reason to not step outside again for a while until whatever the hell that was is far away from here"

Justice led the way as Austin followed behind. The cave was surprisingly deep and seemed to go on forever. After walking a few minutes, Austin felt like they were being watched. He turned around to see if something was behind them, but it was too dark to make out any figures. He put the thought out of his head and continued following Justice. Eventually, the two came into some giant room. In this room was where the river flowed into a large pool. Austin and Justice looked into it and were surprised at how deep it was.

"That's a deep pool of water," said Austin as he tried to figure out how deep it could be.

"I'm more surprised at how big this room is, and there's light in here cause of these holes in the ceiling." Justice was mesmerized at the sight of the well-lit room. He wondered why someone would build a structure such as this in the middle of a cave. He then noticed something sitting on what looked like a shrine.

"Hey Austin, there's some kind of shrine over there." He looked to see Austin still thinking about the depth of the water. "Fine then, I'll check it out myself."

Justice walked over and saw that there was some weird rock on top of it. It was red with a flame design and a horn coming from it. Justice had never seen anything like it before. He went to reach for it when Austin walked over to him.

"What are you doing?" Austin was curious at what Justice was doing with this thing.

"I was going to pick it up, but you stopped me by walking over here."

"Oh, then let me get it for you." Austin tried to pick it up, but it wouldn't budge.

"Man, this thing is really stuck. I couldn't even make it move. Don't try to move it, it's not coming out."

Justice was curious now since Austin couldn't move it. He placed his hands around it and began to lift it. It came up easily. Austin couldn't believe it. He started cursing about how it was so heavy and that this must be some kind of trick. Justice started to laugh at him, saying that he was soft and needed to do some more exercise. There was a hole where this rock was, and it began to spray what looked to be a red powder. As the two friends watched with dazed looks, something began to materialize in the cloud. It looked like a watch.

"Is that a watch," asked Justice as he continued to stare at it.

"I think it is, but why is it materializing in this cloud?"

"Should I try and grab it?"

"I guess," said Austin with optimism. "It's worth a try."

Justice reached towards this red conglomeration for the watch. When he got his hand closer, it moved towards his wrist. It then wrapped itself on his wrist. The red cloud also disappeared. Justice pulled his hand back and took a good look at the thing on his wrist now. It looked like a normal watch, but it had what looked like a sun symbol in the middle. There were also no clock hands on this watch, or notches for the numbers.

"What kind of watch has no hands," asked Austin staring at the thing.

"A digital watch, maybe? Now I'm more convinced that were in SAO or an RPG or some shit."

Justice continued to look at it as Austin looked around after he thought he heard something. Austin looked up and noticed that the roof looked like it was shaking. He looked closer and noticed that there was dust falling down. Then some small rocks started falling. Austin knew what was going to happen and he grabbed Justice and pulled him towards the pool again. Just as he did, the roof collapsed, and something fell into the cave. It was a giant dinosaur creature with one large horn on four legs.

"I finally found you two," it said in a deep, grumbling voice. "I've been sent to kill you little humans, so don't make this harder than it should be."

The creature began to walk towards them.

"What the fuck is that thing," screamed Austin as he started to back up.

Justice had no words. He just backed up slowly with Austin. The two were scared out of their minds as this giant triceratops looking thing got closer.

"I'm going to enjoy this, VOLCANIC STRIKE!" A blast of fire balls came hurtling towards the two. They jumped out of the way. Austin ended up next to a wall and Justice jumped into the pool.

The fireballs hit the wall and caused a blast that shook the cave. More rocks started falling from the ceiling into the pool. Justice was trying to get out, but he got caught by a rock on his scarf. It dragged him down into the depths of the pool.

"JUSTICE!" yelled Austin as he tried to get over to the pool to save his friend. Another blast from the dinosaur stopped him.

"You're not going anywhere. Your friend there will drown, and there's nothing you can do about it. Now be a good little human and accept your fate."

Austin had nowhere to go. He was trapped and alone. He couldn't save Justice and he was going down next. He wanted to wake up from this nightmare, but it was all real. As the dinosaur prepared an attack, something stopped him. He was hit in the back legs by something that he didn't notice.

"What was that? Who attacked me?" He looked around and saw what looked like a velociraptor in front of Austin. "What do you think you're doing little pest?"

"I won't let you kill this innocent human Monochromon," said the raptor.

"Like you're going to stop me shrimp. I'm stronger than you in every way. Only a fool would stand up to me." Monochromon laughed at this display of courage. "I'll have to kill you too then."

The raptor creature turned to face Austin. He could see that Austin was scared to death. He was pale and violently shaking. The raptor felt some weird feeling inside him that said to help this kid. He didn't understand it, but he would follow it. He gave a smile to Austin before he turned to face this Monochromon.

"I won't let you do that. I'll keep this guy safe even if I have to sacrifice myself. I'm not sure why I'm doing this, but it just feels right." The raptor moved his arms out and opened his claws. "I'll make sure you get out safe, kid. Just stay behind me."

Austin nodded as the raptor readied his battle stance. Monochromon stared him down. Austin then looked to the pool with fear. He didn't know if Justice was going to be dead or alive. The thought of his friend dying made him shake even harder.

Justice was still alive, but he was in grave danger. His scarf was caught on this rock dragging him to the bottom of the pool. He tried to get free, but the scarf was too tight to take off. When he got to the bottom, he tried to move the rock. He was not strong enough to move it. He desperately tried to undo his scarf, but it was no use.

"_Shit, shit, shit! If I don't make it out of here fast, I'm gonna drown! Gotta get to Austin. Gotta get out here. Gotta… get… some… air…"_

Justice was at his limit. He was out of air and out of time. As he began to fade out of consciousness, a bright light began to illuminate from the strange rock he pulled out a few moments ago. A figure then came from the light reached his hand out to him. Thinking that it was an angel and it was his time, he slowly started to reach out and blacked out after that. What he didn't know was that the figure had moved the rock and brought him to the surface. The figure put Justice back on dry land and began to revive him. Justice regained consciousness as he coughed up water.

"Thank goodness I'm in time," the figure said, helping him up. "I thought I wasn't going to have a partner for a second there."

Justice looked at the figure. He was met with a creature with a blue and white face with big red eyes staring at him. It had a small horn on its nose, two ear-like appendages on its head, and two yellow upside-down triangle marks under its eye. Justice had never seen anything like it. His first instinct was the freak out, but something told him that the creature was not here to harm or eat him.

"D-did you save me," he asked with a curious look.

"I sure did. If I didn't you would be sleeping with the fishes." The blue creature giggled at his own joke. "The name's Veemon, nice to meet cha!"

Justice could only stare in response to him. He blinked a couple times and rubbed his eyes to see if he was dreaming. He was not.

"What's your name?"

"J-Justice"

"Nice to meet you, Justice! I've been waiting for you for a long-time partner. I was waiting for someone who could pull out the Digimental of Courage!"

"Partner? Digimental of Courage?" Justice didn't understand what Veemon meant by those two. "What even are you and why are you my partner?"

"Oh right, you just got here. I'm a Digimon, and you are my tamer. Basically, we're gonna be best friends."

Justice just stared at Veemon with a puzzled expression. He was trying to make sense out of this situation, but it wasn't working. Justice decided to just roll with it.

"Ok then. If I'm what you say, then what am I supposed to do with you?"

Veemon smiled and pointed to Monochromon fighting the raptor on the other side of the river.

"We fight the evil digimon to make sure that the digital world is kept safe."

Justice was even more confused. That answer only led to more questions. His first question was what is a Monochromon. He then realized Austin was on the other side with that thing.

"Oh shit, Austin got stuck over there. What can we do to help him?"

Veemon pounded his chest. "You can leave that to me. I can help that other digimon fight Monochromon while you get your buddy."

"And what do we do after that?"

"We can fight together to beat that guy."

Justice thought for a second. He realized that despite it being two against one, they wouldn't be enough to defeat that thing.

"No, we're going to get out of here after we get my friend. I don't think fighting that thing is a good idea."

Veemon seemed a bit disappointed that Justice didn't want to fight, but he agreed to the retreat.

"Ok then. Since this is your first time, I guess we can run. But I'm fighting next time we see him."

Justice and Veemon then ran to Austin and the raptor to help them out.

Austin was still sitting against the wall. He was frozen with fear as he watched the raptor and Monochromon fight. The raptor was trying his best, but the size and strength difference was making it hard for him to get any solid hits. Austin knew that this battle would result in a loss for the raptor.

"You're quite tough for a shrimp," said Monochromon. "However, you're not fooling me. I can see that you know that you can't win. Just run now and I'll let you live."

The raptor looked back at Austin. He saw the fear in him. Something inside him said to not leave Austin behind. He still didn't understand it, but he was going to follow this feeling.

"No can do Monochromon. I just can't leave you to kill this human. I'll fight till my last breath against scum like you. Praying on the innocent is unforgiveable."

Monochromon was about to launch another attack, but something stopped him.

"V-HEADBUTT!" Veemon charged in and headbutted Monochromon hard. Monochromon was knocked off-balance.

"What was that," asked the raptor. He then noticed Justice and Veemon next to Austin. "Did you do that?" He was looking at Veemon.

"Yeah I did," said Veemon. "Now let's get out of here while he's confused.

The group ran through a hole in the back of the cave. When Monochromon regained focus, he was furious. He stormed out to try and find the humans.

Outside the cave, the four ran into a small forest. They stopped when they thought it was safe and sighed with relief.

"That was too close," said Austin. He was still shaken. "Thank you for what you did back there, uh whatever your name is."

"The name is Raptormon, and I was only doing what was right. I wasn't going to let that dick get away with murder."

Austin then turned to Justice. He was relieved his friend was unharmed.

"Justice, how did you get out of that pool? I thought you were a goner."

"I was saved by this guy. He said he's my partner or something." Justice was still skeptical about everything Veemon told him.

"I'm Veemon. It's nice to meet cha! A friend of Justice is a friend of mine!"

Austin was extremely confused. He wanted to know so many things. Justice was with him. They both didn't understand anything about this situation.

"What do you mean by partner," asked Austin.

"Oh, I'm Justice's partner Digimon. We're a team now and will be the strongest team in the digital world."

"A team, huh?" Austin didn't understand it, but he was going to roll with it.

Austin looked at Justice and Veemon. He then looked at Raptormon. He wondered if he had a partner. He thought about asking the question.

"Raptormon, do you have a partner?" Austin wasn't sure how Raptormon would react.

"I don't. I don't think you and I are going to be partners either. I only helped you out of the kindness of my heart. I'm getting out of here now because that Monochromon will still look for you."

Raptormon was about to leave when Austin called for him to stop.

"Wait Raptormon. I'd like to thank you personally. If we ever meet again, I'd like to get to know you better."

Austin extended his hand to shake Raptormon's. Raptormon returned the grip.

"We might meet again, but I wouldn't count on it. Just make sure you guys don't get into trouble."

After the two let go, something began to materialize in front of Austin. It was like the thing that appeared before Justice. This one was pink unlike the one that happened with Justice. Austin felt like he should reach out and touch it. When he did, another watch latched itself to his wrist. This one was like Justice's, but it had a heart in the middle instead of a sun symbol.

"What the fuck is this," asked Austin. "What does this mean?"

Veemon looked excited as he answered the question.

"That's your digivice, Austin. It means that you are a tamer like Justice. You and Raptormon must be partners."

Raptormon looked at Austin and chuckled. Austin was confused at this.

"I don't mean to be a dick, but I really don't see it happening."

"What makes you say that," asked Austin in a saddened tone.

"I feel like there isn't a connection. I don't think you and I are cut out for each other. Plus, I'm a loner. I don't do well with multiple people if you catch my drift."

Austin looked down with shame. He was hurt that this digimon was not as willing to become his partner as Veemon was with Justice. Raptormon then said something that gave him hope.

"While I don't think you and I are compatible, I'll hang around for a bit and maybe you can change my mind. Who knows, maybe I'll stick with you. But I'm not guaranteeing anything. So, stop looking all sad, it's making me feel bad."

Austin brightened up his mood. He smiled as he looked back at the raptor digimon. Raptormon turned his head and gave a stern look that meant he was serious. Austin made it his goal at that moment to get Raptormon to accept him as a partner. Justice and Veemon looked at each other and then back to those two. They weren't sure what just happened, but they were happy that some kind of partnership was made between the two.

The two humans had come to this digital world and found two new allies. What seems to be an easy friendship for Justice and Veemon is turning into a hard task for Austin and Raptormon. What new adventures await the group, and what will happen when they meet new friends. Only time will tell what happens when a human meets their digimon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Bark and the Bite**

It was clear now that Monochromon, the dinosaur Digimon, was after them. Seeing scorches of flame light up in the distance, Austin and Justice and their newfound Digimon companions decided to seek shelter deeper in the forest. The trees gave cover, some with massive dark blue leaves like palm trees, other with branches stretching for meters above the others. It was like a maze. The vegetation looked the same as the next with a carpet of flora and leaf litter. Anyone that would dare try and explore this forest would only get lost in the process. And that's exactly what they hoped for Monochromon to fall for.

Once they found a good place to sit, the two humans were able to take in their surroundings, which gave them a very clear message. They were no longer home, or on the same planet in that manner. Wherever they were, it was all alien to them. Raptormon and Veemon, their "Digimon partners" filled them in on what Digimon and the Digital World were, the world that they were in. Overall, they remained skeptical of the whole thing.

"Okay, one thing at a time." Austin told them. He moved, pacing around trying to get what he heard into his mind. "So basically, we got sucked into this world after we were sent that weird message. Now we are stuck here until we do something. Is that right?" He tried to make sense of this but wasn't sure if it came out right.

"Yeah that sounds like you got it," said Veemon. "And since we're your partners, it's our responsibility to kick evil in the ass and keep our world safe. So, let's be the best team we can be!"

"I didn't say I was his partner," said Raptormon quickly. "I said I'd hang around for a bit. I'm still not convinced that this tub of lard is my partner."

Veemon rolled his eyes. "You know, I feel like you're giving him a chance by basically staying here. C'mon, just admit that you're interested in him."

"I will not admit anything," said Raptormon in a stern tone, crossing his arms. "I don't believe in this shit. Leave me out of it."

"Wow, what made you such a grumpy lizard," said Veemon in a playful tone.

Raptormon just shook his head, turning away from the others. Austin chuckled at the interactions between the two Digimon. The opposite attitudes between them made for some hilarious conversation. Justice on the other hand remained silent and took a look at the mysterious watch on his wrist. His gloved fingers brushed over the center of the watch, which then light up in response. His analysis was halted by Veemon who grabbed his attention.

"So, do you guys understand what this means," he asked.

"Nope," responded Justice. He struggled to his feet slowly and stood on the spot. Taking his gloves and putting them in his pocket, staring at the blue Digimon in disbelief.

"Listen, we're not heroes shorty. But in order to get out of the situation we're in, we ain't got no choice." Austin nodded his head, feeling the same way.

Veemon gave him a surprised look, shocked at what he said. At first, he thought his explanation came across buttery smooth, but it didn't look like it got through their heads yet.

"Well, hopefully you two will come around to the whole tamer thing. Let's just talk about what we're going to do about that Monochromon."

Austin and Justice said that it would be best to avoid the digimon at all costs. Raptormon thought that was a good idea, but Veemon wanted to do things differently. He wanted to go all out and fight that digimon.

"We can beat him," said Veemon with a confident tone. "We have powers that he doesn't. We just need to try."

"And what exactly are the powers that we possess," asked Justice with a cautious tone.

Veemon pointed to the thing Justice was holding. The egg thing that he grabbed from the shrine was the key.

"With that Digimental of Courage, we can unlock a power that can get me to digivolve into a stronger form."

"Wait, slow down," said Justice. "What is digivolving and how does this thing fit into this?"

Veemon was trying to find the words to explain it, but Raptormon quickly butted in.

"Digivolving is the process of digimon transforming into stronger forms. Some digimon can retain a from forever while some can only hold it for a period of time. Veemon is referring to armor digivolution. It's a form of digivolution that uses the power of the digimentals to achieve a new form. Only certain digimon can use them, and Veemon is one of them. However, the one you're holding is activated by your courage, so you better be courageous or that shit isn't working."

The three looked at Raptormon after he finished his explanation. Veemon was the most surprised.

"How did you know all of that," asked Veemon curiously.

"I know a lot. My elder was a very knowledgeable digimon. He told me about many things, and digivolution was one of them."

"Well if you know so much, can you digivolve yourself?" asked Austin.

Raptormon turned away from the group again and crossed his arms. "No, I can't. My species is unable to digivolve. Sometimes it pisses me off that I'll never get stronger than this."

Austin regretted asking the question as it seemed to put Raptormon in a bad mood. Veemon continued the explanation from where Raptormon left off.

"Like Raptormon said, you need to have courage Justice. With your D-Watch, I can digivolve into a stronger form and take down that Monochromon."

"D-Watch?" Justice looked at the watch.

"Yup, the thing on your wrist. With that, I can draw upon your energy in order to evolve."

Justice and Austin looked at their watches in response, even more curious about the nature of the device.

Overall, the two were still trying to process everything that was said to them. There was so much information, but it just seemed to go in and out their ears. What really stuck with them was the idea of this digivolution thing. If they could pull it off, they would be stronger and able to fight that larger digimon. Austin and Justice were still hesitant to fight. Their thoughts were interrupted when Raptormon told them to climb the tree.

"Why do we need to climb," asked Austin nervously.

"Monochromon is coming. We need to hide. Climbing would give us a hiding spot and a way to see him, so climb."

The group climbed up the tree, Austin and Raptormon perched on one branch while Justice and Veemon climbed a bit higher and stopped at another. As they got there, Monochromon appeared. Raptormon was right that they could see him, but the others weren't sure about this as a hiding place. Monochromon didn't notice them above him, but he knew they were in the area.

"I know you little bastards are here. I have your scent, so show yourselves!" He continued to search the area. The group was trying to remain quiet until he left.

"Damn, there goes the getting lost in the forest plan," Justice murmured."

"What do we do if he sees us," whispered Austin to the others.

"We fight," whispered Veemon.

"No, we run," whispered Justice, adamant about not fighting.

Veemon looked annoyed that his human partner was so hesitant about fighting. He was starting to think that Justice had no courage to give for his digivolution. Veemon was about to say something when Monochromon started to shout furiously.

"You're all dead when I find you. Even if I have to tear down every tree in this forest, Once I have your corpses skewered, your last thoughts will be never coming to this world!"

Austin and Justice were going white after the threats made to them by the giant dinosaur digimon. Raptormon and Veemon were calmer, but Veemon still wanted to fight. In his fearful state, Austin had loosened his grip on his skateboard. It slipped from his hand and fell to the ground. It landed next to Monochromon. The four in the tree held their breath as Monochromon examined it. He then looked up and saw them.

"Aw, too bad kiddies," said Monochromon in a devilish tone. He then slammed the tree with his horn. It began to collapse.

Austin and Justice fell to the ground landing straight on their backs. Surprisingly, they weren't paralyzed, just in tremendous pain. Raptormon and Veemon on the other hand, landed on their feet, ready to fight.

"Justice! Are you alright?" yelled Veemon, rushing at his side and helped him up slowly. His body, limbs and muscles all felt like they had been pulled from their sockets and screwed back in again, badly. His head was aching so much he couldn't think straight. He slowly got up and grabbed his glasses that fell off his face. Surprisingly, the lenses were still intact.

"Well, I'm alive. That's a good thing, right?" He turned his attention to Austin who was still down. "You dead Austin?"

Austin slowly got on one knee, holding his back in pain. "I will be if we don't do something about this guy," he said weakly. Raptormon gave a sigh of relief in response.

"Justice I know you didn't want to fight, but we have no other option now," said Veemon with a slight grin on his face.

"Fine, just please don't do anything stupid," replied Justice, defeated.

Monochromon smiled devilishly. He opened his mouth and prepared for an attack.

"BIG BLAZE!" A stream of flames covered the ground heading for the group. Austin and Justice narrowly jumped out of the way. They then ran behind a boulder for shelter.

"So, what's the plan?" asked Veemon.

"We're going to sit back and stay out of your way," shouted Austin.

"Yeah, we can't fight that thing, so good luck," said Justice.

Raptormon and Veemon got into their fighting stances. Monochromon only stared them down. He was as still as a rock. He made a quick move with his head, causing Raptormon and Veemon to flinch. Monochromon knew that they were scared now. He charged them with surprising speed. The two dodged out of the way but were caught by his tail. The two were sent into a tree, causing it to fall. They got up slowly.

"That hurt," said Raptormon holding his arm. "I guess we need a plan to take him down."

"What did you have in mind," asked Veemon.

"We need to use our wits together. I'm fast and can get in quickly with weak, but multiple attacks. From what I've seen, you're strong, with average speed. You can hit him with a hard hit and leave him with some damage. We need to play off that to win this."

"I get what you mean. As you go in with your swift strikes, I'll hit him hard."

Raptormon smirked with excitement. He got into a running stance and bolted. Veemon was impressed with how fast he was. Raptormon seemed like he was disappearing with how fast he was moving. He got behind Monochromon in no time and attacked.

"VELOCISLASH!" Raptormon slashed at his back legs. Monochromon gave a painful roar, slumping down on a nearby log, crashing through it.

"You little pest!" Monochromon was distracted when Veemon launched an attack.

"V-KNOCKOUT!" Veemon hit Monochromon in the face with a hard punch. Monochromon went down. He shook his head and glared at Veemon. Veemon glared back, determined to not back down.

"You shouldn't have done that runt," said Monochromon as he got up. "Now you're in for it."

He was about to make a move when Raptormon made another move. "REBEL ROLLER!" Raptormon slammed into Monochromon in a ball. Monochromon didn't go down this time, but he was distracted again. Veemon launched another move. "V-HEADBUTT!"

Monochromon was hit again. He was furious now. Austin and Justice were in awe at the fight. They started to think that their digimon had a chance to defeat this Monochromon.

"Raptormon is so fast. How does he move like that?" Austin was in awe at the speed of his digimon friend.

Veemon and Raptormon launched forward towards Monochromon. With a forward thrust of his leg, Veemon boot kicked, nailing Monochromon in the horn. But in response, the large Digimon deflected his kick with his horn and launched him up in the air. Veemon flipped backwards and quickly landed on a nearby branch, giving Raptormon an opening. But Monochromon was onto their trick. He figured Raptormon would go for the legs again, so he prepared. Raptormon was going for the legs again, but the large Digimon swiped Raptormon with his tail hard. Raptormon was caught off guard and slammed into another tree.

"Now I'm finishing you off, VOLCANIC STRIKE!" Fireballs were hurtling towards Raptormon. He couldn't recover fast enough to dodge. A direct hit sent him flying into the boulder Austin and Justice were hiding behind. Austin ran to his side.

"Raptormon, are you ok!?"

"I'm fine, just a little sore," said Raptormon coughing up blood. "I'll get him on the next shot."

"No, you're down for the count. You can barely stand and you're coughing up blood." Austin knew that Raptormon needed to stand down.

"What are you talking about? I'm fine." He tried to stand up, but he fell back down. Austin caught him. "Ok, maybe I'm seriously hurt. But Veemon needs me to help him." He coughed again.

Veemon was standing up to Monochromon by himself now.

"I'm taking you down for sure now," he said punching his hands together.

"You can try, but you'll end up like your friend over there." Monochromon motioned towards Raptormon who was now sitting in Austin's arms.

Veemon felt a burning passion inside him. He wanted to make sure this scum didn't get out of this for free. He turned back to Monochromon and gave him a look of determination.

"I will stop you here. I swear it on my new role as a tamer's partner that I will take you down here." Veemon then charged Monochromon.

"Hah!" Monochromon responded with a charge as well.

Veemon started to wind up his fist to let loose a punch. Monochromon lowered his head to hit Veemon with his horn. Veemon jumped out of the way and punched Monochromon in his eye. He screamed in pain as he thrashed around. Veemon landed and prepared his V-Headbutt. Monochromon attacked before he got hit again.

"BIG BLAZE!" A blast of flames headed straight for Veemon. He couldn't get out of the way. The flames consumed him as he held his arms up to block. Monochromon charged in and tackled Veemon as well. He was charged through three trees before he was tossed towards the others. Veemon was tossed directly towards Justice, who caught him, but rolled onto the ground a few times due to Veemon's velocity.

"Veemon, are you ok!?" Justice was holding on to him tightly.

"I'm alright, a few bruises won't keep me down," said Veemon as he got up. He stumbled a bit as he stood up. Justice noticed that he was barely standing on his left leg. It must have been injured during the fight.

"Veemon, you can't keep fighting. I can tell you're in pain. We should run before anything else happens." Justice was adamant about this decision.

"I can't do that," said Veemon. "I have to beat this guy. If I can't do that, what's the point of me being chosen to be your partner? My strength will carry us to victory." He then turned to Justice. "And maybe yours could help too, but it seems like you're not going to show it.'

Veemon began to walk back towards Monochromon when Justice stopped him. Veemon was surprised that he was trying to stop him, but something else was in Justice's head. From the looks of it, it was not cowardice.

"Veemon, I've known you for only an hour. From what I've seen, you are reckless, yet full of heart." He took the gloves from his pockets and puts them back on, turning around and smiling at the blue dragon. "I have no idea what the fuck being courageous has anything to do with this fight. But right now, it's do or die time. And if it's my time to die, I'd rather go out with a bang than a whimper."

Veemon's confidence in his new partner was renewed. Despite his noncombatant personality, he sees that he'll step up to the plate when it all relies on him. Veemon closed his eyes, smirking.

"Thanks Justice. I know it's hard to not show fear in this situation, but I want to let you know something. I'm completely scared of fighting this guy. I'm not showing it to make you guys feel better. Even if you have courage, it's ok to be scared. Conquering fears is part of growth. Now let's conquer this one together."

"I couldn't agree more, Veemon. My strength is your strength." Justice and Veemon bumped fists to signify they were fighting together.

Suddenly, Justice's D-Watch began to glow. The Digimental of Courage also began to glow. Justice wasn't sure what to do until he heard a voice inside his head.

"_Use this to amplify your courage towards your partner. Then say Digi-armor Energize to activate his digivolution."_

Justice had no idea who that was speaking to him, but he decided that it was worth a try.

"Let's end this! Digi-armor Energize!"

Veemon was enveloped in a bright light. He began to change.

"Veemon armor digivolve to…Flamedramon the Fire of Courage!"

Austin and Raptormon looked with awe at the new form Veemon had taken. He was taller with a spike protruding from his head. He was wearing armor covered with flame-like designs that referenced the Digimental of Courage with belts on its upper arms and thighs. Flamedramon looked to Monochromon, who was still not worried about this fight.

"Change all you want kid, you won't beat me," he said confidently.

"Now let's get started, Round 2!" said Flamedramon.

Monochromon raced forward. "Guarding Tusk!" He charged his horn forward, intending to impale the armor Digimon. Flamedramon extended his arms, grabbing the larger Digimon's horn. The two collided with horn to claws. Flamedramon used this opportunity to grab the horn and toss Monochromon with a powerful throw. Austin and Justice couldn't believe the power that Veemon gained just by changing his form. Raptormon rolled his eyes with jealousy.

"Argh damn it," shouted Monochromon who was visibly pissed. "You'll pay for this. BIG BLAZE!"

The stream of fire raced towards Flamedramon. Justice shouted for him to move out of the way, but Flamedramon just stood there, motionless.

"It's ok Justice, I can handle this. Just sit back and watch. FLAME SHIELD!"

Flamedramon created a ball of flames around himself to block the attack. The flames were absorbed into the shield. As he lowered down the shields, Monochromon started to charge at him, tackling him through a tree, sending Flamedramon flying for a couple of feet before he quickly jumped to his feet. The two of them began to pant. From the looks of things, they were evenly match.

"You're not so bad, big guy." Flamedramon said, wiping the blood from his mouth, "Look, whatever what your master said to you, these two humans have done nothing wrong. So, for your sake, give up while you still can."

Monochromon gave a gruff sigh and lowered his head.

"I'm fighting on behalf of my master. Failure is not an option. I'd be choosing death if I were to turn and run."

There was a moment silence from the armor Digimon, knowing that in a way, Monochromon was similar to him, not wanting to run away from a fight with the odds were against you. As he jumped into the air, his eyes glowed pure red and his body was enveloped in flames. He started to spin into a rushing tornado, amplifying the flames around him to its maximum velocity. Monochromon raised his horn to counter in response

"FIRE ROCKET!"

"GUARDING TUSK!"

The two collided with tremendous force. Flamedramon was pushing hard as was Monochromon. The two seemed to be at a stalemate until Monochromon started to push back Flamedramon.

"_Oh no, I don't have enough power to end this. He's pushing back hard. But f I give in, he will kill Justice and the others. I have to push harder."_

Justice watched as Flamedramon tried to end this, but Monochromon was not giving up easily. He did the only thing that he could do, encourage his new friend.

"Flamedramon! Burn his carnivorous cranium back to whatever the fuck he came from!"

Austin joined in. "Beat that big fucker down and show him your strength!"

"You got it dude," cheered Raptormon.

Flamedramon felt his strength increase from the encouraging words of his partner and the others. The flames grew brighter and stronger. Monochromon was beginning to slide back.

"You're toast!" Flamedramon broke Monochromon's horn and landed the finishing blow. The two disappeared in a fiery explosion, with the others bracing the wind from the force. Flamedramon jumped out of it and landed in front of the group. The smoke cleared and Monochromon was down, still alive.

"I…lost." He weakly said You really did it, runt." He tried to get up, but his body did not respond. He was down for the count.

The group walked up to Monochromon. He was smiling.

"Why are you happy? You just lost." Flamedramon said confused.

"I am free from his control. The one that ordered me to kill you, you freed me from his control."

"Can you tell us more about this mysterious figure that sent you," asked Austin.

"Hold up." Justice interrupted, looking down at the defeated Digimon with animosity. "How do we know you're not just trying to bait us into attacking us again? You must have lost your goddamn mind if you think you're gonna trick us.

"C'mon Justice, it doesn't look like he's in a position to move," said Austin.

"I'm not taking any chances." Justice put his hands up in annoyance and stepped back. "But if you wanna get shit out of him, whatever happens next is on you."

Monochromon waited until the two stopped bickering. After that he cleared his mind. "I can try, but I don't know much. He came to me and looked into my eyes. I was paralyzed by his evil gaze. That's when he put me under his control. After that I was forced to do his bidding."

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Austin. Giving him a look of sadness. "But at least we freed you, right?"

"Yes, I thank you for that. Especially for not killing me."

"Your welcome." said Flamedramon, smirking at him.

"Can you get up?" asked Raptormon.

"Unfortunately, I can't move, so it might be my time to move on."

"I can help with that." A loud, low voice was heard. The group looked around until they saw a large figure in the sky. He was shrouded in darkness, making it hard to see his face, but Monochromon knew who it was.

"That's the one that took control of me: Tactimon!" Before Monochromon could say another word, Tactimon spoke.

"You failed me Monochromon. Your failure has granted you the punishment of **death**." Tactimon snapped his fingers and Monochromon began to fade away until he was gone.

"What the fuck just happened," asked Austin nervously.

"He's gone." replied Justice with a scared tone.

Flamedramon and Raptormon glared at Tactimon who looked back.

"I will send more to destroy you four. This is only the beginning."

Tactimon disappeared into thin air, leaving the group to stare puzzled into the sky. They had no idea what the hell just happened, or even how to react. Austin looked at the spot where Monochromon had laid. It was empty except for the impression he made on the ground. Flamedramon walked up to Justice as Raptormon stood against a tree. When Flamedramon got to Justice, he dedigivolved back to Veemon.

"Boy, we really showed him a thing or two, huh," said Veemon.

Justice only stood in silence. He didn't know what to feel right now. Despite the Digimon going tooth and limb in trying to kill them, he was under control against his will. He was as much as a victim as they were. He started to regret what he said to him.

"It's ok, he's not gone forever." Veemon reassured Justice. Sure, it was shocking to say the least, but he wasn't all torn up about it.

"He'll be reborn. Monochromon will be sent to a place called Primary Village to be reborn. It happens to all digimon since we're made out of data. Instead of our data getting deleted, it gets reconfigured back into a DigiEgg. Then we hatch as a new, fresh Digimon, usually without any memory. Don't you guys get reborn?"

Austin and Justice looked at each other, arching an eyebrow, then back to him.

"Well, not really," said Austin, his body stiffened a bit, becoming a bit uncomfortable with answering him. "When humans die, that's just it unfortunately. We only got one life to live, one life to enjoy."

Veemon's joyful demeanor quickly disappeared. The fact that humans compared to Digimon only have one life scared him. He swallowed a lump in his throat, unable to utter a word. The mere idea alone seemed cruel and terrifying. Watching the small, blue dragon get choked up over the concept of only living once stirred feelings in Justice he wouldn't be able to explain, but one thing was certain, it shook him up a bit.

"Man…" said Justice, as he raised both hands behind his head, crossing one leg over the other while standing. "Lucky!" He had said that last word in a tone that sounded a lot more like that of a schoolboy, envious of a classmate's new game rather than that of an older school-age boy, envious of a monster's practical immortality. Veemon looked up surprised, confused at his reaction

"I mean, technically nobody really knows what happens when humans die. But the general idea is that it feels the same way you felt before you were born. But…" Justice raised his voice somewhat, turning his head upwards. "…We ain't PROUD of it! But fuck it, that's the way it is, so I can't complain."

Veemon didn't know how to respond to that. His calm and carefree demeanor showed the dragon Digimon that there was more to this human than meets the eye. He scoffed at his comment in response.

"I guess I'll just have to make sure you don't die then," said Veemon.

"Right back at you, Vee."

"Vee?" Veemon questioned.

"Yeah, Vee. I think it's a cool nickname for you, don't you think?"

"Ehh, I give it a 6 out of 10, but it's a good one."

Justice and Veemon chuckled as they continued to chat. They sat down to rest after the battle. Austin walked over to Raptormon, who was still holding his arm. He leaned on the tree next to him and turned to him. Raptormon was staring intently at Justice and Veemon. He rolled his eyes at them.

"Why'd you do that," asked Austin.

"I just don't see the point of digivolving. Most digimon can do it, but not all are capable. My clan is one of the unlucky. I'm not sure what we did to deserve this, but I do know that it is entirely unfair. Every time I see a digivolution, I just shake my head and think about what I could be. This is one of the reasons I don't see why I'd be a chosen digimon. What use am I if I can only remain like this? I'd only be a burden."

Raptormon stared into the sky, holding a necklace. It looked to be the claw of some digimon.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up something that makes you feel bad. I assume that the necklace you have is significant to your situation?" Austin wasn't sure how Raptormon would react.

"This is a treasured item to me. It's a claw from the Tyrannomon that was once the leader of our clan. He was the only one of the Raptormon clan that was able to digivolve. He was revered as a hero, but he was killed defending the young clan members from intruders to our jungle sanctuary. He was my mentor, so I took this claw to keep as a memento of his heroism."

Raptormon clenched the claw in his hand. Austin placed his hand on his shoulder. He didn't know what to say. He just rubbed Raptormon's shoulder.

"I can see why you were hesitant to be my partner now," said Austin comfortingly. "But I don't care if you can't digivolve or whatever you called it. All I want is to have a cool partner like you."

"Thanks Austin, but I still don't know how to feel about this whole thing. I feel like you'd be better off with a digimon that can actually be useful."

"I think I'm fine with you Raptormon. As long as you can try to make it work between us."

"My earlier statement still stands. Show me what I want or I'm leaving."

"You got it, but you're going to stay at this point. You wouldn't have shared that much with me if you didn't feel comfortable around me."

Raptormon smiled at Austin. The two stared up at the sky contently. A noise caught the attention of the group. They looked up and noticed something in the trees. A closer look revealed two figures. One looked humanoid while the other seemed to be a digimon. As quick as they spotted them, the two disappeared into the thicket of branches. The two were left pondering about what they had just seen.


End file.
